Deputy Editor
Poker tournament regular Ren Lin, a GGPoker ambassador, admitted he broke the site’s rules by coaching a player in real time during a high-stakes final table. The incident led to his disqualification from day two of an unrelated $5,300 live event, which has the poker world abuzz about the fairness of such a procedure.
On X, Lin released a lengthy explanation and apology for the poker cheating incident.
As a public figure, I am deeply ashamed and remorseful for failing to live up to the standards I advocate. I am prepared to accept all penalties and will make every effort to compensate the players affected in this event.I sincerely hope this incident serves as a cautionary example, and I urge everyone to join me in upholding a safe and fair competitive environment for poker—both online and offline.
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How Ren Lin Broke the Rules
Lin provided coaching advice to a player going by “RealOA,” while that player was actively engaged in play at the final table of a $10,300 GGMillion$ event on Oct. 14.
RealOA ended up winning the tournament, which paid out $346,903 for first place. A player going by “Buzzcut” took third. Both Buzzcut and RealOA are members of a poker chat helmed by Lin. Lin and RealOA are Chinese, while Buzzcut’s user flag indicates that they are from Japan.
According to Buzzcut, who has also written up his version of the incident, he opened social media app after his third-place finish. He saw that RealOA had gone on to win and proceeded to post a message in the chat thanking Lin for his coaching.
At that point, Buzzcut collected some screenshots that show RealOA sharing their screen during the final stages of the tournament. One of those screenshots shows an observer “TonyLin008” with a hot mic during the heads-up match.
At that point, Lin reached out to Buzzcut to apologize, according to both players’ versions of the story. Buzzcut wrote that the two spoke for 30 minutes and that Lin had said live coaching is “quite common and normal.”
By Buzzcut’s account, Lin claimed that 90% of final table players do the same thing.
Lin Apologizes But Denies Malicious Intent
However, in his apology, Lin blames the misstep on a natural desire to help others and said he’d responded to RealOA’s questions reflexively, without considering that he was actively involved in play. Lin said he only coached RealOA for a few minutes during a break of his live event and did not personally profit from the cheating in any way.
Having experienced many difficult periods in my own life, I understand deeply what it means to struggle. That is why, when I see friends in need, I often feel an unconscious urge to assist. It was this very mindset—’having been rained on, I always want to hold an umbrella for others’—that led me to commit this serious error and cross a clear competitive boundary.
Lin added that RealOA has returned “the majority of the prize money” and that Lin would cover the rest of the return to make the affected players whole.
Buzzcut, for his part, wrote that Lin’s actions should not be accepted as normal.
“GG Millions players needs a better environment to compete,” he wrote. “All the affected players deserve some justice. GGPoker needs to take action against this behavior.”
GGPoker/WSOP Sanction Lin in Live Event
Buzzcut published his side of the story on Friday, Oct. 17. The following morning, tournament staff in the World Series of Poker Circuit $5,300 Main Event at Merit Poker in Cyprus disqualified Lin from Day 2.
Today, before the start of Day 2 of the Main Event, poker player Ren “Lady Gaga” Lin was disqualified by the decision of the WSOP Tournament Director Andy Tillman due to a violation of the Poker Integrity Policy on GGPoker.
His stack was removed from the tournament.
— Merit Poker (@meritpokerlive) October 18, 2025
Although the two events were part of different series, GGPoker has owned WSOP since purchasing the brand last year from Caesars. After GGPoker announced it had banned 31 accounts for cheating this spring, ambassador Fedor Holz stated that the company’s policy going forward would be that sanctions incurred online would also apply to any of GGPoker’s live events, including the WSOP. At the same time, GGPoker has adopted an annual “olive branch” program, offering banned players a chance to plead their case for a second chance.
Online Cheating is a Recurring Problem
Online poker cheating scandals are a perennial occurrence, and there have been some memorable recent incidents on GGPoker. An online bracelet winner was banned and stripped of a seven-figure prize last year. Well-known pro Ali Imsirovic was also “banned from GG for multi-accounting and [use of real-time assistance],” according to fellow high-stakes reg Alex Foxen.
In a high-stakes online domestic bracelet event a few years ago, Jeremy Ausmus finished second to a largely unknown player, Jared Strauss. Ausmus hinted that something smelled off during the event, as Strauss had played like a high-stakes regular despite having few notable live tournament results. Later, he followed up by saying he’d found out Strauss had been banned from the site.
Strauss confirmed the ban but was adamant he’d done nothing wrong.
Just this summer, the WSOP Millionaire Maker ended in a much-discussed cheating scandal. That reportedly ended in bans for the offending parties, James Carroll and Jesse Yaginuma. However, they were able to keep their prize money, as they had only been accused of colluding to split a million-dollar promotion after all other opponents had already been eliminated.
Is Live Event Punishment a Fair Response to Online Cheating?
Lin’s DQ sparked discussions online about the fairness of a mid-tournament sanction for actions in a separate event. Some players believed it was out of line, while others supported the move.
Patrick Leonard opened the dialogue. He said he supported crossover sanctions between online and live events. However, he said he was against a mid-tournament DQ, especially with such a fast turnaround on any investigation.
Both Leonard and Lin’s fellow GGPoker ambassador, Daniel Negreanu, defended Lin’s character.
“He made a mistake trying to help a friend he was excited for and I think this apology owns it appropriately,” Negreanu wrote.
Notables like Chris George and Tony Dunst supported the ban, with George saying there’s video evidence out there of Lin soft-playing against friends in high-stakes events.
Christian Harder said he agreed with Leonard that a mid-tournament DQ for a violation in a separate event was going too far.
According to Buzzcut, Lin promised he would never again offer real-time advice to another poker player.
